Day Three At Sea

We are currently bob, bob, bobbing along in the middle of the South Pacific. It is taking us 4 days to get to our next port, Easter Island! We are really looking forward to it. In the meantime, we are keeping busy on the ship, sort of. I don't know if it's the motion of the ocean or what, but we've both been sleeping a lot. After lunch it's time for a nap, even if I got up at 9:30. Mel's had a bad cold, so he's trying to get rid of it, but me, who knows.

 

Holland Am has done some cutbacks on this trip. In '09 there were guest speakers every day at 11 and 2. Now there is only one daily. Mel and I decided to not be tied to any other activities like HAL Chorale or dance class, so we have time to ourselves. We always go to the port talks, Mel goes to the lectures. The most recent were about Easter Island. The theater was packed. Everyone is interested in knowing as much about it as possible.

 

We had our third formal night so far and we've only been gone 2 wks. That's a lot of formal nights. One good thing about it though, is the gifts. While the gifts seem a bit less expensive this year, they have all been useful which is nice. The first was leather bound journals, like we received in '09, along with ID/credit card holders with the WC logo. Next gift was a "Wellness Kit". Smart. It has 3 zippered pockets filled with things we can use like sunscreen, hand sanitizer, band-aids and Imodium! Nice gift. Tonight we received tin boxes with the the HAL Grand Voyage itineraries on the top. Inside is a map, metal ruler and mechanical pencil so we can chart our course. I like the tin a lot, another clever gift. Wonder how many we'll get before we get off in Hong Kong?

 

Speaking of Imodium, apparently some of the passengers picked up a bug during the off ship excursions in S America. One of our table mates has been confined to her cabin for 24 hours. Because of this they are going to extreme methods of assuring that more people don't get sick. There are no salt or pepper shakers on the tables. We are served at the buffet rather than self serve. They even said the dance class would be line dancing, not rumba, so no one had to touch each other. The Dance Host services have been canceled for the time being. And no one is supposed to shake hands! It's nice they do this to protect the rest of us. In '09 our crew friend told us that if someone who was to be confined to their cabin was spotted in public areas, they would be locked in! It would be awful for 1/2 the ship to be sick. I'm happy to have never gotten Mel's cold. Let's hope he gets better and I continue to be healthy. It would be sad to miss any of the interesting ports we'll be going to.